The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility of
forensic DNA-based techniques in identifying species involved in
Australian aviation bird strikes. Experimental bird tissues were
subjected to severely damaging conditions to determine if DNA could
be extracted from these samples. In addition, DNA and feather
microscopy databanks were created from the species classified as
being the highest risk for strikes to provide reference data to
compare against unknown samples. Finally, a DNA sampling kit was
created and distributed widely to aerodromes across Australia for
collection of material from unknown strikes for DNA analysis.
Results of experimental bird tissue experiments showed the most
detrimental conditions for DNA were to leave a sample at room
temperature for 7+ days. DNA was successfully extracted from all
strike samples collected with sampling kits then returned to the
laboratory and positive identifications were able to be made to
species level in the majority of cases. Interestingly, it was found
that attempts at visual species identification were often incorrect
and that the putative high risk species were only responsible for
27 per cent of the unidentified strikes. In general, we found DNA
identification of strike species to be a reliable method for
identifying the species involved in collisions and conclude that it
would be a useful addition to the methods already employed to
identify wildlife strikes at civilian aerodromes.